Chapter Summaries

Su Yao and Shen Ling'er discovered that the pill given to the emperor contained lead powder and ash from human remains, likely intended to make him paranoid and frame the Flower-Between Pavilion. Gu Moran connected the pill to an old clandestine furnace and the massacre of the Grand Tutor's household, while Eunuch Zhang left Hanzhang Hall with Clear Frost Courtyard's reply.

• Su Yao and Shen Ling'er examined the pill and found a hidden mark associated with the Flower-Between Pavilion.
• Shen Ling'er identified lead powder and ash from human remains in the pill, warning that long-term use could make the emperor paranoid and suspicious of Gu Moran.
• Batuer demanded three whole roasted lambs from Gu Moran as an apology, and he agreed.
• Gu Moran read Su Yao and Shen Ling'er's reports, and Uncle Fu linked the pill's ingredients to a clandestine furnace that burned down sixteen years earlier, soon after the Grand Tutor's household was massacred.
• Gu Moran stored the report in a hidden compartment, while Eunuch Zhang received Clear Frost Courtyard's reply and walked toward the palace gate.

Eunuch Zhang visited the Flower-Between Pavilion’s hidden owner, Liu Huaijin, to report that poisoned longevity pills bearing the Pavilion’s old mark had entered the palace. Liu Huaijin suspected the supposedly dead alchemist Tao Wujiu and opened an old register to investigate, while warning that the person protecting Tao Wujiu remained unknown.

• Eunuch Zhang threatened to expose the pills’ hidden mark and persuaded Madam Chun to take him to the secret chamber.
• Eunuch Zhang told Liu Huaijin that the pills could cause suspicion, nightmares, palpitations, and a drastic change in temperament, and that the scheme might target Gu Moran.
• Liu Huaijin and Madam Chun identified Tao Wujiu, an alchemist who had tested drugs on beggars and disappeared twelve years earlier, as a possible culprit.
• Eunuch Zhang revealed that Her Highness already knew Liu Huaijin was alive, and Liu Huaijin said Liu Ruyan could not be used as a pawn.
• Liu Huaijin opened the Alchemy Chamber’s old register and found that Tao Wujiu had entered a private alchemy facility outside the capital.
• Liu Huaijin concluded that someone powerful might be protecting Tao Wujiu, but said they still needed to investigate who was behind him.

Liu Huaijin arranged to use the crown prince and the second prince to throw the pill furnace chamber into chaos and draw out Tao Wujiu, while revealing his hatred for the emperor and asking Madam Chun to protect two children. At the Grand Commandant's Residence, Lin Qingdai demanded martial techniques to help Gu Moran, then drew her sword to her neck after her father rebuked her.

• Liu Huaijin explained that Tao Wujiu had ties to the private furnaces and might know Guard Chen had died in his place.
• Liu Huaijin planned to plant incomplete records about Pan Qing and Chen Dehai so the crown prince and the second prince would investigate each other and disrupt the pill furnace chamber.
• Liu Huaijin revealed Tao Wujiu's Formula for Harvesting Yin to Replenish Lifespan and told Madam Chun to keep the two children safe without letting hatred take root.
• Lin Qingdai told Lin Zhenshan that she feared trouble at Prince Yi's Residence and demanded the Grand Commandant's Residence's supreme martial techniques for Gu Moran.
• Lin Zhenshan refused, warning that helping Gu Moran would entangle the family in the succession struggle, and Lin Qingdai drew her sword across her neck.

Lin Qingdai risked her life to persuade Lin Zhenshan to give Gu Moran a martial technique, arguing that he needed protection more than killing moves. After learning Gu Moran had reached sixth rank, Lin Zhenshan questioned her explanation but ultimately handed her the Wind-Breaking Hand.

• Lin Qingdai held a sword to her neck and asked Lin Zhenshan for a martial technique manual for Gu Moran.
• Lin Zhenshan warned that giving Gu Moran a Lin Clan technique could expose the family to accusations of disloyalty, so Lin Qingdai asked for an unarmed defensive technique instead.
• Lin Zhenshan asked Gu Moran's current realm, and Lin Qingdai said he had reached sixth rank.
• Lin Qingdai claimed her sparring and qi-guiding had helped Gu Moran advance, while Lin Zhenshan suspected she was lying but recognized Gu Moran was no simple character.
• Lin Zhenshan asked whether Gu Moran bullied or treated Lin Qingdai well, then pulled an old booklet from the shelf and told her to start with the Wind-Breaking Hand.

Lin Qingdai returned from the Grand Commandant's Residence with the Wind-Breaking Hand manual and a cut on her neck, after persuading her father to give it to her for Gu Moran. She insisted on giving Gu Moran the technique despite his objections, and her fierce willingness to protect him triggered a major increase in her affection and a milestone reward.

• Lin Zhenshan warned Lin Qingdai that the Wind-Breaking Hand could injure Gu Moran if he practiced it too greedily, and cautioned her that political rumors about his martial arts school could put him in danger.
• Lin Qingdai told Lin Zhenshan that Gu Moran was no longer a good-for-nothing and framed the manual as a father's gift to his daughter rather than a gift from the Grand Commandant's Residence to Prince Yi.
• Lin Qingdai returned to Prince Yi's Residence with a bloody cut on her neck and went to Gu Moran's study carrying the manual.
• Gu Moran questioned Lin Qingdai about her injury and guessed that she had forced her father to hand over the technique, then pushed the manual back toward her.
• Lin Qingdai told Gu Moran she was willing to trade her own blood to keep him alive and declared that if he died, she would die too.
• The system reported that Lin Qingdai's affection had risen to +6, added a fiercely protective tag, and awarded Gu Moran a milestone reward for surpassing one hundred total beauty affection.

Gu Moran gained the ability to quickly analyze martial arts and learned that the emperor had heard about his martial arts school. He decided to place the school under government authority and fund a broader public-safety effort, but an anonymous letter revealed that officials were already moving against him, so he set out to act before the next court session.

• Gu Moran received the Martial Dao Aptitude talent, while Lin Qingdai gave him the Wind-Breaking Hand manual and Shen Ling'er treated the wound she had inflicted on herself.
• Lin Qingdai told Gu Moran that the emperor knew about the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School and had leaked the news to the crown prince and second prince.
• Uncle Fu proposed renaming the school the South City Martial Workshop, registering it under Jingzhao Prefecture and Chang'an County, and combining it with public services; Gu Moran agreed to fund it from the residence's public accounts.
• Gu Moran and the women planned to turn Ye Qingyun against the Second Prince by exposing his efforts to win over Chu Tianxing and sowing doubts about the medicine sent to Ye Qingyun.
• A servant delivered an anonymous letter reporting that Yuan Shen was meeting someone from the Crown Prince's Residence and that Cao Jin was heading to find him; Gu Moran called Uncle Fu to go with him and moved to respond.

Gu Moran offered Yuan Shen twenty thousand taels to bring Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School under Jingzhao Prefecture as a supervised South City Martial Workshop and to improve the poor districts. Yuan Shen and Cao Jin considered a plan to turn the Crown Prince's impeachment into an official trial project, but the chapter ended before they agreed.

• Yuan Shen reflected on the Crown Prince's Residence's demand that he impeach Gu Moran for privately funding Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School.
• Gu Moran offered twenty thousand taels to improve the south of the city and proposed registering the school as the South City Martial Workshop under Jingzhao Prefecture's supervision.
• Gu Moran proposed that Yuan Shen impeach him while recommending a three-month trial, framing the workshop and relief shelter as measures to improve public order and aid displaced people.
• Cao Jin arrived after receiving an anonymous letter accusing Gu Moran, and Gu Moran argued that Chang'an County could also face censure if the school were treated as a private army.
• Gu Moran told Yuan Shen and Cao Jin that the workshop could provide jobs, meals, and night patrols, giving them achievements in governance.

Gu Moran secured Yuan Shen and Cao Jin’s support for a supervised redevelopment of the city’s south, while Ye Qingyun suspected the Second Prince and Chu Tianxing were worsening his injury. Ye Qingyun rejected the medicine and went out at night toward the free clinic.

• Gu Moran agreed to Cao Jin and Yuan Shen’s oversight conditions and urged them to write a memorial supporting the redevelopment.
• Yuan Shen burned Cui Yan’s sheet and began drafting a memorial that would first impeach Prince Yi.
• Gu Moran told Uncle Fu that Yuan Shen and Cao Jin had a political stake in the redevelopment and would not want to abandon it.
• Ye Qingyun heard that the Second Prince had sent medicine and medicinal herbs, then suspected the medicine was harming his arm and that Chu Tianxing knew about it.
• Ye Qingyun ordered Shuhe to pour away the medicine, tried to muster his qi, and set out for the free clinic despite his worsening pain.

Gu Moran used Ye Qingyun’s confrontation with Chu Tianxing to set an official cleanup of the southern district in motion. The fight left both men injured, and Cao Jin and Yuan Shen sealed the lane to handle the case publicly.

• Gu Moran ordered Uncle Fu to alert Yuan Shen and Cao Jin, bring constables, and document Ye Qingyun’s disturbance instead of stopping it quietly.
• Ye Qingyun accused Chu Tianxing of accepting favors from the Second Prince and hiding a plot against him, while Chu Tianxing warned that Ye’s cultivation had gone astray.
• Ye Qingyun attacked Chu Tianxing at the free clinic shelter, knocking medicinal herbs into the mud as Chu tried to protect the patients.
• Gu Moran watched from the tea stall and sent Uncle Fu into the crowd with his prepared draft as the constables arrived.
• Ye Qingyun’s qi surged, his left arm went limp, and he struck Chu Tianxing before collapsing and dropping his saber.
• Cao Jin ordered the lane sealed, and Yuan Shen declared that no one would settle the case privately.

After Ye Qingyun’s fight with Chu Tianxing damaged the charity clinic shelter, Yuan Shen and Cao Jin imposed new government oversight on martial training and emergency medical care in the southern district. The Second Prince’s Residence failed to remove Chu Tianxing, while Gu Moran observed that both Chosen Ones had lost fortune and the Heavenly Dao Correction Force had crashed.

• Cao Jin’s constables separated Ye Qingyun and Chu Tianxing, and Yuan Shen recorded the fight, the shelter damage, and Ye Qingyun’s martial-practice injuries.
• Yuan Shen and Cao Jin approved a plan to register the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School as a supervised martial training bureau and reorganize Chu Tianxing’s clinic as the Southern District Emergency Shelter.
• Chu Tianxing agreed to run the shelter under conditions requiring free emergency care for the poor, equal queues, and compensation if another armed intruder damaged his medicine chest.
• A steward from the Second Prince’s Residence tried to take Chu Tianxing away, but Yuan Shen and Cao Jin blocked him, and Chu Tianxing claimed the donated medicinal supplies for the shelter.
• Gu Moran saw Ye Qingyun’s injured arm and received a panel report that both Chosen Ones had lost fortune and the Heavenly Dao Correction Force had crashed for the first time.

After uncovering a hidden ledger showing that someone had carefully rebuilt Yi Prefecture’s revenues, Gu Moran realized the accounts might be tied to secrets about his parentage and Liu Huaijin’s old case. He set out to confront his mother, Noble Consort Chen, for answers.

• Gu Moran told Uncle Fu to keep watch on Ye Qingyun and Chu Tianxing and to include the night’s events plainly in Yuan Shen’s memorial.
• Gu Moran examined the residence’s spending ledger and questioned how it could remain wealthy despite his years of extravagant spending.
• Uncle Fu revealed a concealed Yi Prefecture ledger documenting years of work to restore the salt wells, tea hills, river trade, and roads.
• Gu Moran pressed Uncle Fu about who had managed the fief and learned that a group of people had ensured he never lacked money.
• The system linked the secret accounts to an anomalous parentage marker and Liu Huaijin’s old case, prompting Gu Moran to ride to Hanzhang Hall and question his mother.

Gu Moran confronted Noble Consort Chen about his parentage, his fief’s finances, and the old case that destroyed Liu Huaijin’s clan, but she refused to reveal the full truth. After leaving Hanzhang Hall, he encountered Gu Moli disguised as Liu Ruyan and demanded to know why.

• Gu Moran went to Hanzhang Hall and questioned Noble Consort Chen about the pills, the Flower-Between Pavilion, Liu Huaijin’s case, and the secret ledger from his fief.
• Noble Consort Chen admitted she had managed Yi Prefecture’s affairs, but warned Gu Moran that revealing the past could bring deadly consequences.
• Gu Moran asked whether Liu Huaijin had truly plotted treason, but Noble Consort Chen stayed silent and asked for time before answering his questions.
• After Gu Moran left, Noble Consort Chen told Eunuch Zhang to arrange a meeting with her benefactor.
• Gu Moran met Gu Moli outside the hall, saw that she was made up to resemble Liu Ruyan, and asked why she was disguised.

Gu Moli imitated Liu Ruyan’s appearance to attract Gu Moran’s attention, but Noble Consort Chen warned that the resemblance could expose a dangerous secret. She revealed that Liu Ruyan was Gu Moli’s biological elder sister and that discovery could get Liu Ruyan, Gu Moran, Noble Consort Chen, and their clan killed.

• Gu Moran noticed Gu Moli’s resemblance to Liu Ruyan and questioned why she had copied her appearance.
• Noble Consort Chen sent Gu Moran away, then slapped Gu Moli and demanded to know why she had dressed like Liu Ruyan.
• Gu Moli challenged her mother’s restrictions and threatened to seek out the emperor, prompting Noble Consort Chen to warn her that the emperor must not see her face.
• Noble Consort Chen revealed that Liu Ruyan was Gu Moli’s biological elder sister, born to the same mother.
• Noble Consort Chen warned that the emperor might investigate Hanzhang Hall and Prince Yi’s Residence, leading to Liu Ruyan’s death and the deaths of Gu Moran, Noble Consort Chen, and their clan.

Gu Moli confronted Noble Consort Chen about the secrets surrounding Liu Ruyan and declared that she would help her imperial brother secure the throne. She began outlining how her connections among noblewomen could gather information and influence powerful families.

• Gu Moli learned that Liu Ruyan was her biological elder sister and questioned why Liu Ruyan could marry her imperial brother, while Noble Consort Chen insisted that Gu Moli was different because she was a princess surnamed Gu.
• Gu Moli accused Noble Consort Chen of keeping both daughters from their true lives and said she would use her access to noblewomen to help her brother.
• Gu Moli told Noble Consort Chen she would not return to Ganye Temple and declared that her brother should ascend the throne.
• Gu Moli wrote down six families connected to her brother through marriage and added noblewomen from the crown prince's, the second prince's, and other influential households, explaining that they shared information with her.

Gu Moli agreed to stop impersonating Liu Ruyan and to keep gathering information, but Noble Consort Chen warned her away from Gu Moran and revealed that his family had died years ago. Meanwhile, the emperor approved Yuan Shen’s proposal for a martial workshop and relief shelter, then summoned Prince Yi because he suspected the prince’s former foolishness had been an act.

• Noble Consort Chen allowed Gu Moli to keep weaving her network among noble ladies but forbade her from approaching Gu Moran or investigating the palace attendants and medicinal pill trail.
• Gu Moli changed out of Liu Ruyan’s clothes, hid the white jade hairpin, and asked whose child her imperial brother really was; Noble Consort Chen said his family had died years ago.
• After Gu Moli left, Noble Consort Chen told Eunuch Zhang to go to the Flower-Between Pavilion and warn Ran’er that they could not keep the children in the dark much longer.
• The emperor heard that Ye Qingyun and Chu Tianxing had fought at a free clinic shelter and that Yuan Shen and Cao Jin had stopped the Second Prince’s men from taking Chu Tianxing.
• The emperor approved Yuan Shen’s three-month trial of a South City Martial Workshop and Emergency Relief Shelter and summoned Yuan Shen, Cao Jin, and Prince Yi to the palace.
• The emperor wondered whether Prince Yi had truly been outrageous or had only been pretending, and admitted that the prince’s recent competence made him uneasy.

Gu Moran was summoned to the palace, where the emperor questioned him about funding and placing the South City Martial Workshop under government control. After Yuan Shen and Cao Jin explained the plan, the emperor asked Gu Moran whether he resented Ye Qingyun, who had a prior betrothal agreement with the Su Clan.

• Uncle Fu told Gu Moran that the emperor had summoned him after receiving Yuan Shen's memorial, and Gu Moran instructed him to keep the residence calm.
• At the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, the emperor asked Gu Moran whether the South City Martial Workshop was his idea and why he had spent twenty thousand taels.
• Yuan Shen explained that the money had been entered into public accounts to support shelters, medicine, patrols, registers, and relief.
• Cao Jin argued that government oversight of the Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School would help register and control its apprentices.
• Gu Moran said he had funded the workshop so the government could manage it and take the credit, while he accepted the blame.
• The emperor asked Gu Moran whether he resented Ye Qingyun and could tolerate him despite Ye Qingyun's prior betrothal agreement with the Su Clan.

Gu Moran defended Chang'an County’s authority after the Crown Prince’s Residence sought its martial workshop roster and the Second Prince’s Residence tried to retrieve herbs from a shelter. The emperor ordered the herbs sealed and barred all three princes’ residences from entering the site without authorization while the case remained open.

• Gu Moran told the emperor he would leave Ye Qingyun’s assault case to the authorities and joked that Shen Ling'er scolded him most.
• The emperor received a report that the Crown Prince’s Residence had demanded Dragon Abyss Martial Arts School’s old accounts and the martial workshop’s roster.
• Cao Jin and Yuan Shen argued that the roster fell under Chang'an County’s jurisdiction, and Gu Moran warned that bypassing local authorities would undermine government authority.
• Chen Dehai reported that the Second Prince’s Residence was trying to retrieve medicinal herbs from the emergency shelter, where Chu Tianxing and the county runners blocked them.
• Gu Moran urged the emperor to seal the herbs and record everyone who had handled them.
• The emperor ordered Ye Qingyun and Chu Tianxing held until the case was closed, placed the herbs under joint guard, and barred the Crown Prince’s Residence, the Second Prince’s Residence, and Prince Yi’s Residence from entering without authorization.

Gu Moran arranged for teahouses and performers to praise Gu Moyuan’s supposed concern for South City, turning the crown prince’s own efforts to investigate the area into a public story. Liu Ruyan, Su Yao, and Shen Ling'er helped shape the lyrics, and Gu Moyuan decided not to suppress them as the praise spread.

• Gu Moran told Uncle Fu to spread tales crediting Gu Moyuan with long-standing concern for South City, hoping the praise would trouble the emperor.
• Liu Ruyan rewrote the proposed lyrics in ordinary language, while Su Yao warned against details that might provoke the emperor’s suspicions.
• Shen Ling'er joined them and pointed out that witnesses had seen the Crown Prince's Residence seeking the registers, making the story plausible.
• A storyteller and performers praised an unnamed Eastern Palace nobleman, and a servant from the Crown Prince's Residence rewarded the tale in public.
• Gu Moyuan heard that the people were praising his benevolence and ordered his staff not to distribute rewards or suppress the performances.

Gu Moran’s scheme made the people praise the crown prince for measures funded by Prince Yi, provoking the emperor’s suspicion and leaving Gu Moyuan trapped between accepting and rejecting the credit. Gu Moyuan suspected Gu Moran and his wives were behind the songs, but decided the crown prince could not be punished merely for being praised.

• At Prince Yi’s Residence, Gu Moran’s household learned that the crown prince had allowed the praise to continue, while Baishe entered the southern holding facility by stealing a chicken.
• A servant reported that Eunuch Gao had sent three copies of the opera verses into the palace, where Chen Dehai read them to the emperor.
• The emperor heard reports linking the reward money and the lyrics to the Crown Prince’s Residence, then ordered Chen Dehai to watch how Gu Moyuan handled the situation.
• Gu Moyuan struggled to stop the songs without appearing guilty or falsely modest, and his adviser suggested Prince Yi and his wives had engineered them.
• Gu Moyuan concluded that Gu Moran had framed him with a virtuous reputation, but decided to stay calm because the emperor could not punish him solely for public praise.

Gu Moran and his allies prepared to act in the southern city while keeping the Crown Prince's attention focused elsewhere. In the detention facility, Ye Qingyun realized the Crown Prince had manipulated him and triggered a dangerous surge of chaotic qi, leaving the guard about to call for help.

• Gu Moyuan ordered his adviser to monitor Prince Yi's Residence and track Gu Moran's spending and six women.
• Gu Moran told Uncle Fu to watch Ye Qingyun's detention facility and notify Yuan Shen and Cao Jin before Gao Fu if anything happened.
• Baishe planted a story that the Crown Prince was behind Ye Qingyun's ruin and wanted control of the southern city.
• Ye Qingyun reconsidered the events that had led to his arrest and realized the Crown Prince had steered him into the trap.
• Ye Qingyun bit open a bamboo tube and unleashed chaotic qi as the returning guard noticed something was wrong and a chain snapped.